Okay- limbo is getting old.
Yesterday, the movers finally brought all of our stuff to Carrboro. Nancy went over there to supervise them, and I stayed home to take care of Jess. Then we went back over there again last night and Nancy started unpacking boxes while I practiced the keyboard for a while.
So things are moving along very smoothly at a steady pace. So far, there have been dozens of potential problems that we have avoided.
Last night, I handed my mom a check for the remaining balance of the mortgage of our place in Carrboro. So, with the Brooklyn apartment sold, and the Carrboro mortgage finished, we are completely debt-free!
Great – so how many families in America today can say that they own their house outright, and have money in savings? And own their car? And no credit card debt to boot?
How does that make me feel? About the same as before, really.
Which goes to show you that money does not (in of itself) equal happiness. To clarify, I guess what I mean is that someone with $200,000 in the bank is not necessarily going to be happier at all than someone with $500 in the bank, all else being equal, etc.
OK, that is what I expected all along, so I’m glad that I was right! If you extrapolate that ideas into other areas of life, it gets really interesting. One pertinent example to me would be, the rich, successful rock-star is probably no happier than a regular guy who just picked up a guitar for the first time and learned the intro to “wanted dead or alive” by Bon Jovi. Actually, probably quite a bit less happy.
What can we take away from this? Here are a couple of ideas:
1. The bass player for any famous band is probably no happier than you are; at least not directly because he is the bass player for a famous band.
2. The guy driving a 2010 Porsche Carrera is no happier than the guy driving a 1983 Toyota Tercel. When you think about it, he’s probably a lot less happy or else why would he have needed to buy the expensive sports car.
3. Donald Trump, with all his millions, is no happier than you or me.
4. What the hell does this have to do with the title of my post? Okay, living in limbo does get a bit old after a while.